FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2014, file photo, a Samsung Galaxy S5 is demonstrated at the Mobile World Congress, the world's largest mobile phone trade show in Barcelona, Spain. Federal regulators have approved new broadband privacy rules that make internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon ask customers’ permission before using or sharing much of their data. The Federal Communications Commission’s measure was scaled back from a previous proposal but was still criticized by the advertising, telecommunications and cable industries. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

House to Take Up Senate Repeal of Broadband Privacy Rules

The House of Representatives is prepping for a vote Tuesday to repeal the toughest broadband privacy rules ever put in place by the federal government. The move could block the Federal Communications Commission’s ability to police sensitive data gathered by internet service providers on their subscribers, but supporters argue the current rules hold ISPs to a much higher standard than edge providers, like Google and Facebook.

Lawmakers on the House Rules Committee met Monday afternoon to discuss a vote scheduled Tuesday to repeal the rules via the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The act allows Congress to repeal regulations and block agencies from enacting similar rules in the future. The CRA has seen much use since the start of the new Republican-controlled Congress under President Trump.

Tuesday’s vote is the next step in the Republican-led effort to repeal the broadband privacy rules. On Friday, the Senate passed a resolution sponsored by Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake. Passage by the House with a simple majority virtually guarantees the end of the rules, put in place by the then-Democratically led FCC to bar ISPs like Comcast and Verizon from collecting data, including browsing history and app usage, from subscribers without first obtaining their consent.

Republicans in the upper chamber passed the resolution along a 50-48 party-line vote, drawing criticism from Democrats and supporters of FCC net neutrality rules, of which the broadband privacy rules were an outgrowth.

“President Trump may be outraged by fake violations of his own privacy, but every American should be alarmed by the very real violation of privacy that will result of the Republican roll-back of broadband privacy protections,” Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey said after Friday’s vote. “With today’s vote, Senate Republicans have just made it easier for Americans’ sensitive information about their health, finances and families to be used, shared, and sold to the highest bidder without their permission.”

Pro-net neutrality group Public Knowledge, whose former president worked under then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to pass the rules, said the vote “is a clear sign that American interests come second to those of broadband providers.”

“In a world where everything is increasingly digital, now there will be no rules preventing ISPs from selling your web browsing history without your permission — covering everything from the apps you use to your smarthome devices,” policy fellow Dallas Harris said.

Conservative think tanks and trade groups on the industry side celebrated the vote they say brings ISPs one step closer back to parity with edge providers like Facebook and Google. The other half of the online ecosystem faces no such restrictions under less stringent Federal Trade Commission privacy rules. Both sides fell under FTC jurisdiction before net neutrality brought ISPs under FCC oversight in 2015.

“The Senate’s action represents a critical step towards reestablishing a balanced framework that is grounded in the long-standing and successful FTC privacy framework that applies equally to all parties operating online,” reads a statement from NCTA, the internet and cable association representing Comcast, Charter and other ISPs. Additional groups representing AT&T, CenturyLink, T-Mobile, Verizon, and others previously lobbied Congress against the rules.

Berin Szoka, president of the conservative technology policy group TechFreedom, said the CRA “will simply mean that the FCC will police broadband privacy case-by-case — just as it had done under Democratic leadership after the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order deprived the FTC of its consumer protection power over broadband by reclassifying broadband as a common carrier service.”

“The FCC will soon return broadband privacy policing to the Federal Trade Commission, where it belongs, like all online privacy,” he added.

Other groups in support of the rules started a campaign targeting Republican representatives who support repeal on social media Monday. Joshua Stager, a policy fellow for New America Foundation’s liberal-leaning tech policy think tank Open Technology Institute, tweeted the names of members intending to vote for the CRA alongside a list of donations from major ISPs like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast.

Many were among the top donors to Reps. Adam Kinzinger, Leonard Lance, Mimi Walters, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chair Marsha Blackburn, who sponsored the CRA repeal on the House side.

It’s worth noting OTI is funded in part by Google, the dominant force in the online targeted advertising space. As such the company stands to gain if the broadband privacy rules stay in place, limiting the ability of ISPs to compete. Google has been New America’s largest contributor, with at least $1 million last year coming from both the company and the company’s chairman, Eric Schmidt, who simultaneously serves as chairman emeritus at New America.

Other advocacy groups opposing the CRA have been also received substantial funding from Google. The Center for Democracy and Technology and Electronic Freedom Foundation are closely tied to the company.

One response to House to Take Up Senate Repeal of Broadband Privacy Rules

Not yet! Go get a VPN for yourself and your family. It’s the best line
of defense, trust me on this. ISPs won’t be getting a hint of what you
are doing over the internet, let alone your private browsing history.
PureVPN is really good in this case, it can be run simultaneously on
several devices with their family plan.